Little Brother
by MarbleWolf
Summary: Nico gets hurt and needs comfort. Percy, with the help of a lost friend, obliges.


**Disclaimer- I do not own Percy Jackson or the song Soldatino by Paola Bennet****So explanation for this one shot. this was an attempt to get back into writing. I've been having some heavy duty writers block. My Supernatural stories are at a standstill while I try to change a few of their future plot lines because now it is SOOOO screwed up thanks to season 15 revelations. This is also an experimental story. I wanted to see what happened if I listened to one type of music during writing. I came out with 3 short stories. Each with a different genre of music. Music definitely manipulates my writing. Aaaaanyway, this is my first POSTED Percy Jackson story.**

The classroom was stifling. I couldn't sit still for much longer. I bounced in my seat, my fingers moving a mile a minute, clicking pen, squeaking chair, scratching at loose bits of wood. Students shot me annoyed looks as my stepdad droned on and on. He was my English teacher, my worse subject. He was reading out The Argonautica to the class. I felt bad for Paul. He was trying to make things easier on me by reading things I was familiar with but today was a bad day. My whole body was on edge and my brain on anything but what Paul was reading. A knock on the door shook me from my endless trail of pointless thought. Paul, without pause, beckoned for me to answer the door. I sat closest to the door for so many reasons. One of which was monster protection. If one dumb monster knocks to come in then no one else gets hurt (only happened once) or much more often I couldn't sit still for another second so I'd escape.

Annabeth stood outside the door, her eyes watery, bottom lip caught between her teeth. My heart plummeted, looking at her storm grey eyes spill tears down her cheeks. I pulled her to my chest, resting my head on hers.

"What's up?" I whisper, aware that Paul has stopped reading. I could hear him telling the other students to read quietly and he rushed over.

"I got a phone call…" she choked. Now for most people, that may not seem like a big deal. But for demigods, its huge. Demigods don't use cellphones unless it's an emergency.

My stomach twisted, "Who?" I croaked.

"Nico. He's hurt bad. Piper called me. She said it really bad."

As a demigod, I can vouch that demigods are resilient. We're half god. But our survival rate to adulthood is low. I swallowed down my fear, and without hesitation ran down the hall. Argus was already waiting for us outside the school. The drive to camp was quiet, tense.

Jason was outside the infirmary, his head in his hands. Frank was sitting beside him, rubbing his back. Frank motioned us into the infirmary, looking grim. Annabeth shot me a scared look before we stepped inside. Inside, it looked how it always did. The smell on the other hand was different. It smelled strongly of pine trees and decaying leaves, unlike it's normal antiseptic. It was about 50 F in the room, also unusual. The farthest right corner was blocked from view so I headed that way. I peeked between the curtains and saw Will and Hazel sitting on either side of a plain white hospital bed. They wore hospital gowns over their clothes. Hazel's hair was tied up. They worse gloves that I knew were woven with celestial bronze. My eyes landed on the figure in the bed and I gasped aloud.

I've seen horrible injuries. I've seen blood smeared on the ground like paint. I've witnessed demigods, titans, and even gods wounded horribly. But this was something new. Nico was naked, a towel draped around his hips. His skin was splotchy and swollen vivid red, and deathly pale blue. The bed was wet with the sweat rolling off Nico's body. A swollen bruise stood out against his ribs. An assortment of needles and IV lines decorated his flesh, an oxygen mask covered his face.

"Oh Nico…" Annabeth sighed, announcing our presence.

Will stood, walking over to greet us. His usual demeanor dimmed. "Percy, Annabeth."

"What happened to him?" I asked, unable to rid myself of the image in my head.

"He was at Hades Palace. Some rogue monsters showed up. Nico fought them. Took a hit to the ribs and it tossed him into Persephone's Garden. He rolled through Persephone's plants. A couple of them weren't friendly. One was Gympie Gympie, a type of stinging plant. It's also known as the Suicide Plant. It causes severe allergic reaction and its excruciating." Will sobbed and shook his head. "Rolled through Rosary Pea, other nettles. He has a dozen toxins in his system. He went into anaphylactic shock and Hades brought him here."

"What are his chances?" Annabeth whispered.

"If he makes it through the night and doesn't get an infection, he will recover. I've got him on painkillers and nectar." Will wouldn't meet our eyes.

Hours later, I found myself sitting alone in the dark with Nico. We had taken turns watching him through the night. Except for Will, who had been herded into his bed to rest as much as possible to gain back the energy he used up on healing Nico. I had the watch from 3-5am. My job was to make sure the medicine never emptied, and make sure Nico was breathing. Nothing drastic happened on anyone else's shift and it seemed that mine would end the same way. 4:35am, only a few minutes left.

Nico took a shaking breath, and my pacing faltered. Nico's eyes were wide open, his sclera of his eyes were bright red. I rushed to his side and met his eyes, afraid to touch him.

"Nico. It's ok. You're alright." I spoke softly. We were both scared. I didn't know how to deal with Nico. He had always been different than I. I respected him but how am I supposed to comfort him? Nico was panting under the mask, his hands flexing and feet kicking. Even with all the painkillers and IVs he was still in agonizing pain.

"We can't give you anymore medicine yet." I apologized. The 15 year old gave a whine, looking at me with those big dark eyes. Tears left tracks down his cheeks and my heart melted. He looked like he was ten years old again. The thought left me feeling even more hopeless than before. I fell heavily into the chair and raised a shaking hand. Hesitantly, I stroked his sweaty hair and tried for a reassuring smile. He sobbed and slapped at the IVs in his arms, the mask on his face, I gently took his trembling hands.

"Shhhh… leave it. Do you want me to get Will?" I whispered. Nico shook his head weakly. I nodded, "You don't want him to see you like this?"

"Please… don't." He breathed, barely audible. I stroked his hair back. His shoulders shook with sobs and his whole body shuddered with waves of pain.

I swallowed back my own tears and searched for something, anything, to help the child laying so small in his hospital bed. Then I remembered something. Something perfect. First let me explain. Hera had stolen my memory and after getting it back, I remembered everything but some moments were still buried. I would remember random facts when something jogged my memory. This was one of those moments.

I remembered a quest. A girl, a thick silver coat, silver bow, dark hair braided down her back. A boy covered by a golden lion's pelt… that was me. Grover some ways away talking with Thalia who wasn't dressed as a huntress. Another girl watched closely as the girl sitting next to me taught me a song. Something to help Nico, when Bianca Di Angelo couldn't be there for him. When Nico was scared, hurt, sick… to sing. I never got that chance. Always too nervous, chickening out or Nico would be gone too quickly. Looking at Nico now, I knew now was the time. The girl in my memory whispered the words in my ear. She would laugh and correct me when I messed up. I would blush and try again.

I cleared my throat and began, my voice thick with suppressed emotions.

"_Close your eyes__I know what you see_"

Nico turned pained eyes to me. The awe in his eyes making me choke back a sob. Bianca sang in my mind, my voice carrying with hers through time.

"_The darkness is high__And you're in ten feet deep"__But we've survived__More terrible monsters than sleep__And you know I will be here to tell you to breathe__Tu sei il mio soldatino__La ragone per cui vivo__Non ti scordar di me__Io veglierò su di te" _

I repeated the song over and over, holding his hand. He was smiling, a real genuine childish smile. He still trembled with pain but I kept up my stream of song going. His black eyes watched me, memorizing every word.

I looked up as the curtain creaked and Will crept in. I blushed brightly but kept up the song, keeping Nico calm. Will was smiling, his eyes crinkled and to my embarrassment, sat on the other side and watched me sing. After a couple verses Will's voice joined mine. Nico and I laughed when Will messed up, I corrected him and the two of us sang together. The sun came up and Nico decided he wanted to try to eat.

As I left, Nico's soft voice called after me. "Thanks Percy."

"Always, little brother." I said, before turning to leave.


End file.
